I am not yet diabetic - "yet" - I just got A1c test results of 5.6 and I am on 2000mg of Metformin a day. And have been for years. My doctor said to "Watch my carb intake".

I have chosen to do the Sugarbusters type diet - or the South Beach phase 2 with no induction, as all protein and fat tend to make me nautious. So - It looks like I need to eliminate all whites -sugars and flours - and starchy veggies - and pineapples,rasins,banannas... These diets at least have given me a plan or a forbidden foods list... At least there are rules! Will not be as easy as it seems as I have 7 children all still living in the home, a carb loving husband, and a grandad to cook for daily!

I got the results back on February 3rd and I started LCing by February 8th.
So does anyone have any thoughts? If there is such a thing as pre-diabetes and if that is where I stand what is the best thing for me to do?

It sounds like you all can monitor how what you eat affects your blood sugar b/c of the machine monitoring that comes with diabetes.... How can I do it w/o or do I just get A1c testing every 3mo?

Well it looks like I didnt ask many questions - but I need imput so please tell me the most important things you learned or did in the beginning.

I have weight goals - I want to be within my normal weight range - I'd love to lose the belly!!! Is this my best monitoring system my weight?

If there is such a thing as pre-diabetes and if that is where I stand what is the best thing for me to do?

I think using a word like "pre-diabetes" is misleading...and dangerous...because I see too many with this 'diagnosis' acting as if they've dodged a bullet...and they haven't. At the least, figure if you've hit the pre-diabetes range of their charts, then you're insulin resistant and the best thing you can do is try to reverse that. According to Berstein, that involves not eating the foods that cause glucose production and changing other things like not snacking, eating at the same time each day, controlling the amount of protein you eat, etc. His book "Diabetes Solution" is the bible for diabetics as far as I'm concerned.

It sounds like you all can monitor how what you eat affects your blood sugar b/c of the machine monitoring that comes with diabetes.... How can I do it w/o or do I just get A1c testing every 3mo?

Monitors don't have to be expensive...and just because they or their test strips are expensive, it doesn't mean they're any more accurate. You can get a Relion Prime meter for about $10 at Walmart and the test strips are $9 for a box of 50. Very reasonable given the outrageous amounts they want for some of them.

Well it looks like I didnt ask many questions - but I need imput so please tell me the most important things you learned or did in the beginning.

The most important thing I've learned about controlling my blood sugars is to be consistent. There's no such thing as 'cheating' because this isn't about weight...it's about controlling the insulin resistance and diabetes. I log everything I eat and I plan my day out in advance the night before. That way I do not run into any 'surprises', nor am I caught out at meal time without a plan.

I have weight goals - I want to be within my normal weight range - I'd love to lose the belly!!! Is this my best monitoring system my weight?

If you mean, is losing weight the best way to monitor your blood glucose, then 'no'. Just cuz you're losing weight, it doesn't mean your blood glucose is in a good range.

Finally, depending on how insulin resistant you are, you may find that moderately low carb diets will be enough. It's just a personal opinion, but I consider anything from 50 up to 100 to be moderately low. These types of plans allow the addition of fruit, non-starchy vegies and even some limited amounts of grains.

I would recommend getting a meter and using it. If nothing else, test right before each meal, which is when you 'should' be the lowest.

I was DXd a few months ago and find the 'eat to your meter' method of testing very helpful as I learn about what is happening in my body. I am not taking any meds.

This method:
Tests fasting BG every morning.
Tests BG just before a meal, one hour after first bite, and two hours after first bite (three hours after if hour 2 is higher than hour 1).

Write it all down - along with a food log.

This allows me catch my highest spikes - and whether those spikes are dangerously high. Also I can evaluate how quickly my BG returns to normal. This, in turn, allows me to find out which foods cause the spikes, and how much food causes spikes.

I define 'dangerous' as 120. But many healthy, happy people use 140 as their "if it makes you go over this, it is not good for you."

Of course, over time, the amount of testing goes down. I have identified many 'safe' foods. I rarely test them any more...only if I feel strange after eating.